How did Sorge die? New facts about the exploits of Soviet illegal intelligence agents. Interesting Facts, Amazing Facts, Unknown Facts at Fact Museum

The author of the book, deputy editor-in-chief of Rossiyskaya Gazeta, twice winner of the literary award of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Nikolai Dolgopolov told AiF about the heroes of the book, many of whom he knew personally.

Presentation opened director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergey Naryshkin. “The history of the country's foreign intelligence, or rather, that part of it that has been removed from the secrecy stamp, should become public. The heroic destinies of many legendary intelligence officers are a good example for everyone, especially for the younger generation of our citizens,” the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service emphasized.

18 heroes, 17 names (one name is still classified), both familiar to everyone and remaining ordinary intelligence soldiers for many. Richard Sorge, Rudolf Abel, Nikolai Kuznetsov, Alexei Kozlov, Ivan Mikheev, Elena Modrzhinskaya, spouses Michael and Elizaveta Mukasei, Klaus Fuchs and many others.

Scout Letters

“I tried to open to readers the heroes who for some reason are considered “scouts of the second plan” in our country, although I absolutely disagree with this characterization,” said Nikolai Dolgopolov. - In intelligence there is no second or third plan. She is always at the forefront. And in the book, I returned to my favorite characters again. One of them is Rudolf Abel (real name William Fisher). Not so long ago, I received new documents from his adopted daughter, Lidia Borisovna Boyarskaya, who died in April 2016 at the age of 93. We were family friends. Lidia Borisovna called Abel "Uncle Willy." When we were sorting through the archives of her foster father, she gave me some of the documents, asking me to publish after her death. These were Abel's letters from the American prison in Atlanta to his relatives in Moscow. True, they were all addressed for the purpose of conspiracy to Leipzig, where, according to legend, his daughter and wife lived. Everything is in English. It is curious that letters from a house in Moscow were first written by his wife in Russian, then her daughter Evelina translated into English, after which Abel-Fischer's wife Elena Stepanovna copied the messages with her own hand. And Soviet intelligence sent them to the GDR, from where they were sent to the addressee in an American prison. So the book contains the correspondence of the intelligence officer, who was serving the hardest prison term, with his family and the rarest documents about his release.

Studying the archive of Abel-Fischer, I found the answer to the most difficult question: where did the paintings by William Genrikhovich, created by him in the USA, come from in the Soviet Union? Often visiting his apartment, I saw many paintings on the walls. It turned out that the Americans handed over the things of the colonel to the Soviet embassy, and our diplomats, long before the exchange of the colonel for the spy pilot Powers, safely transported them to the USSR. After the death of Lydia Borisovna, these paintings adorn museums and collections of some collectors. And she gave me a few paintings, which I am very proud of. They are all signed in English with the surname "Abel", or in Russian - "R. Abel".

Scout Tragedy

The fate of some scouts was tragic. There have been failures. Someone was betrayed, someone was declassified by chance, others died, one might say, on the front line, protecting the interests of the country.

“I tried to give my version of the death of the famous intelligence officer, the hero of the Soviet Union, Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov, and it does not coincide with the opinion of many intelligence historians that I respect very much,” continues Nikolai Mikhailovich. - Kuznetsov was given out to Bandera. These are people who were in the underground city committee of Rivne. They learned the true name of Kuznetsov and gave Nikolai Ivanovich to the Germans and Bandera. He died on the night of March 8-9, 1944 in an unequal battle with bandits.

I also tried to analyze why our resident military intelligence officer Sorge and his group were arrested in Japan. He was hanged in a Japanese prison on November 7, 1944. How did the Japanese get on it? Having considered four versions, I come to the conclusion: there was no failure and no mistakes. The intelligence officer worked in Tokyo from 1932 to 1941, was constantly “under the hood” of the Japanese special services - the time of his illegal work in this country was too long. In support of my conclusions, I cite the opinion of the oldest Chekist of Russia Boris Ivanovich Gudz, who for a year and a half, starting in 1936, led the activities of Ramsay in Tokyo from Moscow.

Chekists in cassocks

It turns out that those who truly served ... God also served in Soviet intelligence. Without abandoning the cassock of a clergyman, Ivan Ivanovich Mikheev was at the same time a career employee of Soviet intelligence and managed to rise to the rank of colonel of the SVR.

“This story is very dear to me personally,” recalls Nikolai Dolgopolov. — I met Ivan Ivanovich in 1997. Operational nickname - "Mikhas". In front of me was a real Orthodox priest with six medal bars! We talked about his life and service, but it was too early to talk about it at that time. And now, 20 years later, I still wrote about his feat. During the Great Patriotic War, servant (this is a church term - Ed.) Ivan Mikheev, together with Archbishop Ratmirov, acted in the German-occupied territory in the Kalinin region (now Tver), then Smolensk and other cities, transmitted information about the movement of German troops and uncovered German intelligence networks . One of these networks was organized by the Germans under the guise of a school for the training of priests. This structure of the Abwehr was revealed by Mikheev with the help of the real Archbishop Ratmirov, who was not a scout at all. By the way, in the Orthodox world, Mikheev was better known under the surname Lunev. Being a man of deep faith, he remained a career foreign intelligence officer. Naturally, when meeting with him, I could not resist the question: “How could it be possible to combine faith in God and devotion to Soviet ideals, Soviet ideology?” To which Mikheev replied: “I have two Gods in my life - one in heaven, the other - intelligence service. I served these gods all my life, I never went against my conscience. And God helped my country first win the war, and then ensure the security of the Motherland.” However, what happened to Mikheev later, after the war, I have not ventured to write yet. Who knows, maybe this will be the plot of the next book.

"Cherche la femme"

There are in the history of intelligence, in addition to heroes, and heroines. In particular, Elizaveta Ivanovna Mukasey. Together with her husband, she was an illegal intelligence officer. The couple spent 22 years abroad in various countries. They had two children. Daughter Ella Mikhailovna and son Anatoly Mikhailovich Mukasey - People's Artist of Russia, husband of the famous director and actress Svetlana Druzhinina.

“When I tried to find out from Elizaveta Ivanovna in which specific countries she and her husband worked, she always answered extremely cautiously and evasively:“ In one country of Eastern Europe, in one country of Western Europe ... ”- Nikolai Mikhailovich shares his memories of the legendary intelligence officer . “Nevertheless, despite responsible secret work, she somehow managed to escape several times a year to her homeland to see her children. I note that Elizaveta Ivanovna always willingly talked about her family, but never a word about how she managed to get out to the children - an operational secret! I actually noticed an interesting detail. In pairs of illegal spouses, women turned out to be completely taciturn. And then they warned her husband: “Have you thought, is it possible to tell this already? I don't think it's time yet." So, contrary to popular belief, a woman in intelligence is even more cautious and vigilant than men.

Scout Day in Russia, on the basis of the order of the Minister of Defense, has been officially celebrated since 2000. The President of the Russian Federation fixed this holiday in the list of memorable dates in 2006, which confirmed the relevance of the intelligence profession. In this article we will try to answer the question of what date is Scout Day in our country, highlight facts from the history of the holiday and the profession.

Facts from the history of the date of celebration

The Day of the military intelligence officer in Russia is celebrated on November 5 for a reason. On this November day in 1918, on the basis of Trotsky's order, a special department called Registerpr began to function in Petrograd, coordinating the work of army intelligence. From that day on, military intelligence became a separate division of the Red Army. Under tsarist rule in Russia, reconnaissance units also existed, but they were components of other units.

In 1918, courses for the training of professional intelligence officers were created in Moscow. They were trained in 13 main disciplines: geography, tactics, topography and others. Later, foreign languages were introduced into the courses.

The oldest profession

Intelligence has been a matter of special importance since the times of Kievan Rus. The first bodies conducting intelligence work appeared in our country in the 16th century. The role of Russian intelligence increased along with the strengthening of Russia's position in international affairs.

In 1654, the Order of Secret Affairs was created in the country, which was assigned the role of coordinator of the work of Russian intelligence. Later, Peter the Great, in his decree, laid the foundation for the legislative and legal framework for the actions of intelligence officers.

Since 1812, control over the work of Russian intelligence was carried out by the Special Office. She was engaged in solving important tasks: she collected the most important information, identified and destroyed enemy agents.

The important role of intelligence during the Great Patriotic War

Military intelligence made an invaluable contribution to the victory of the Russian people in the war against the Nazis. Only in the first six months after the start of this bloody war, about 10,000 Soviet intelligence officers worked in the rear of the Germans. Many of them were equipped with walkie-talkies and were able to transmit the information received. Scouts contributed to the formation of a partisan movement in the rear of the invaders.

During the war years, the Smersh counterintelligence department was formed, whose duties included an uncompromising fight against saboteurs and spies of hostile states, as well as against traitors and deserters in the Red Army. The employees of this department revealed a large number of enemy agents, preventing the insidious plans of the enemy.

During this difficult time, the foundations of the traditions of Russian military intelligence were laid, and a large number of qualified intelligence officers were formed who skillfully applied their experience in practice in the post-war years.

On the Day of the military intelligence officer in our country, the memory of the heroes - intelligence officers who gave their lives for their people is honored.

Scout Qualities

A scout is a unique profession, and in order to master it to perfection, you must have a number of specific qualities, backed up by knowledge, experience and devotion to your country.

The Day of the military intelligence officer in Russia is a holiday of selfless, seasoned, competent and strong people. They often risk their lives, standing guard over the security of the population of Russia.

Without intelligence, the functioning of the state is currently difficult to imagine. As long as there are organizations that pose a threat to our country, the relevance of the intelligence service will only increase.

Military intelligence today

Intelligence functions have remained unchanged in our time. It refers to state structures that have not been significantly affected by the changes that affected other areas after 1991. Scouts continue to obtain military-economic, political and other important information, doing their work in the rear of a possible enemy. In some cases, they are at the forefront of military conflicts.

The names and tasks of military intelligence officers (November 5 - Intelligence Day in Russia) are kept in strict confidence. There are severe criminal penalties for disclosing this information.

One of the main divisions of military intelligence in our country is counterintelligence, which suppresses the work of intelligence agencies of other states on the territory of the Russian Federation. Employees of this unit also accept sincere congratulations on the day of the scout on November 5th.

Holiday traditions

Scout Day is not officially celebrated by all representatives of this profession. After all, many intelligence officers work obliges to hide their activities and maintain secrecy. They do not seek to draw attention to their own person, sometimes even relatives do not know about the nature of their activities.

Intelligence Day is also a professional day for our compatriots who conduct intelligence work in other countries and live away from their native country for a long time. In ordinary life, these people are absolutely not like scouts.

Congratulations on the Day of the Scout on November 5 are accepted by all who serve in the GRU: soldiers, officers and the leadership of the General Staff. Cadets and teaching staff of specialized educational institutions take part in the official celebrations. On this day, in a solemn atmosphere, the commanding staff awards the military who tied their fate with intelligence, letters, medals and gifts, assigns them new ranks.

According to tradition, on Scout's Day, peculiar rites of washing insignia are held, which will be deservedly placed on the shoulder straps of the military. They are placed in a glass of champagne and drink an invigorating drink to the bottom.

Scout Day is celebrated by former military men who are on a well-deserved rest, their relatives and friends.

Intelligence is the main means of obtaining information for the armed forces of the Russian Federation.

It makes it possible to prevent hostilities, and, if necessary, to meet the enemy in full combat readiness.

Everyone loves spy detectives and from childhood remember phrases like "The turnout failed" or "Encryption from the center is late."

The stories of agents that we will tell you also probably began with a childhood love for spy novels and James Bond films. Each of them once came to intelligence, but left his invisible front in disgrace.

Anna Chapman and all-all-all

Of the eleven Russian intelligence officers who were involved in the CIA scandal in 2010, Anna Chapman is best known. She was so incompetent that when buying a cell phone, she gave her address as "99 Fake Street" to avoid suspicion. Her colleague wrote down a randomly generated 27-character password in a notepad, allowing investigators to decrypt more than a hundred of his files.

They also used public Wi-Fi for data transmission and gave away laptops to FBI agents posing as electronics repairmen. And although some of them have been active in the US for almost a decade, they have collected so little information that they have not received accusations of espionage.

Unsuccessful landing on the American coast

In 1942, Germany tried to send four agents to New York to carry out a series of bombings in the city. After their U-boat ran aground, the German spies nearly drowned trying to land on a life raft.

On the beach, they were immediately noticed by a coast guard officer, but they tried to pretend to be local fishermen. Unfortunately, one of the spies spoke German, while the other was still wearing his wetsuit pants. They tried to bribe the officer, fled, but were immediately put on the wanted list. All four were caught in less than a week after one of them turned himself in to the FBI.

No pool - no intelligence data

American Harold James Nicholson became a double agent after his superiors refused a request to transfer him to work in Kuala Lumpur, where he hoped to get a house with a swimming pool and a maid for free. He started trading classified data and got caught trying to fool the lie detector by taking unusually deep breaths.

Nicholson was so narcissistic that he hung a poster with his own portrait in his office, and so confident in his elusiveness that he continued to search the databases for information regarding Russia, even when he did not need them. After being captured in 1996 and imprisoned for 23 years, he added another 8 years to his term for trying, through his son, to collect the rest of the money owed to him for selling secrets back to the Soviet Union.

Avalanche and tracking device

Worried about China's nuclear program, India and the US have teamed up to oversee Chinese missile tests. The problem was in the Himalayas - they interfered with the observation. A team of intelligence officers from both countries tried to install a tracking device on the top of Nanda Devi, one of the highest peaks on the planet.

Their ascent was interrupted by a blizzard. Instead of going down with the instrument, they tied it to a rock to take it to the top later. When they returned six months later, he was gone. Expensive spy device powered by a nuclear source swept away in an avalanche.

The mole that caught the mole

FBI agent Robert Hanssen was the Russian "mole" for 22 years, avoiding failure only because the capture of the "mole" was entrusted to him. He was once caught trying to run a password cracker on his work computer, but he said he only wanted to guess the password to his office printer.

As a result, the master of espionage was caught on one of his features - everyday racism. Hanssen often used a strange expression that insulted the Japanese. After some time, it turned out that the “mole” also uses the same phrase. It remains only to add 2 and 2.

American women are not tempted

In 2015, three Russian spies were accused of trying to recruit American citizens. They were especially interested in university students, but they lacked the charm needed in such cases. In the case file, there is a remark from one of them that "women do not let me get close to them."

The "Russian Trio" was not distinguished by the subtlety of its work, having come to the attention of the FBI more than 50 times in two years. During telephone conversations, they used code words, but did not bother to cover up, constantly talking about delivering some kind of “tickets” to each other, but never once going to the cinema or to the stadium.

Conspiracy? No, I haven't heard

Earl Edwin Pitts has been described as "brainless" and "with an IQ at room temperature". Earl was an FBI agent who sold $224,000 worth of secrets to the Union. He continued to hide the received money under the false ceiling in his office, even after he noticed that there was a security camera installed there.

He also counted money, sorted it by face value and put it in bundles even during meetings with other agents. Pitts continued to sell secrets even after learning that his own wife had turned him in to the FBI. He is currently serving a 27-year sentence.

Life beyond your means

Selling American secrets for an average of $7,500 each, James Hall III received over three hundred thousand from buyers. He spent money on a luxurious life that did not fit with his official income.

The expensive Volvo and the huge new house aroused legitimate suspicions among his colleagues, but Hall made up a story for them about a dead rich aunt. He was captured after he himself boasted to an FBI agent that he was selling top secret information to the GDR and the USSR.

I'll put on boots and a red coat

In 2013, Ryan Fogle was arrested while walking around Moscow. His head was crowned with a ridiculous-looking blond wig (perhaps the spy was haunted by the laurels of Jared Leto), and he carried a compass, a map of the city, and a very outdated Nokia phone. He tried to recruit a Russian agent. Fogle, who introduced himself as a "CIA spy," carried a spare wig, $100,000 in cash, and a letter addressed to a Russian spy.

It contained detailed instructions on how to create a mailbox on gmail.com for future "secret" correspondence. He also had four pairs of sunglasses with him - despite the fact that the operation was carried out at night. "James Blond" was expelled from Russia a week later.

MI5 miscalculation

Undoubtedly, the British counterintelligence department MI5 made a personnel mistake by hiring a drinking admirer of Hitler, Michael Bettany. They say that at one of the corporate parties, Michael, after drinking two bottles of pure whiskey, shouted that it would be better if he worked for the Russians, and then set fire to his clothes.

Later it turned out that Bettany was indeed spying for Russia, but he did not succeed in this either. After his clumsy attempt to shove a thick stack of classified documents into the embassy mailbox, Russian intelligence decided it was a trap and handed him over to the British authorities themselves.

Without a doubt, one of the first associations with the work of a scout is the fate of Maxim Isaev, who worked in the German Abwehr under cover and under the name Stirlitz. The editors of the site offer you a selection of interesting facts about the film that you did not know or managed to forget.
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The exploits of Soviet soldiers, Soviet intelligence officers are a topic of interest to many, and the names of the participants in these historical events are always well known. But there were in the history of the exploits of scouts, which few people know about.

On August 18, 1944, one of the most daring and curious operations of the Soviet state security agencies began. Codenamed Operation Berezino.
In the summer of 1944, the largest offensive operation of the Red Army unfolded, as a result of which Belarus was completely liberated from the Nazis.

However, individual German units that were surrounded tried to get out of it. Most of them were destroyed or captured. Intelligence took advantage of this circumstance, starting a new radio game with the enemy, called "Berezino". Its "godfather" can be called Stalin, who suggested the idea of the game to the scouts. It was necessary to mislead the Germans, creating the impression of active actions of their units in the rear of our troops, and then deceitfully force the German command to use its resources to support them. The head of the 4th department of the NKVD Sudoplatov, who was assisted by Eitingon, Maklyarsky and Mordvinov, became the head of the operation. The work of radio operators was led by William Fisher.

On August 18, 1944, "Heine", aka Alexander Demyanov, aka "Max", told the Germans on his walkie-talkie that a German unit of over two thousand people under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Sherhorn was hiding in the Berezina River area.

In fact, no such part existed. Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich Sherhorn was taken prisoner in the Minsk region and recruited by state security agencies. His group included German agents, former prisoners of war, as well as German anti-fascists. Sherhorn and his entire "part" were led by a special task force of Soviet intelligence. She was given twenty submachine gunners to help her. That's the whole "army" of Sherhorn. In addition, in order to protect the operation from accidents, the approaches and its location were carefully guarded by military patrols, and several anti-aircraft and machine-gun installations were disguised not far from it. The Germans did not immediately respond to the Heine radiogram. Apparently, they used some of their accounts and channels to check the identity of Lieutenant Colonel Sherhorn. Finally, on August 25, Heine was instructed to contact Sherhorn, to report the exact coordinates of the unit for dropping cargo and sending a radio operator.

“Heine” by this time was (for the Germans) seconded to a military unit located in the town of Berezino, not far from the place where Sherhorn was “hiding”. He "managed" to contact the lieutenant colonel, to inform the Germans of his whereabouts. A convenient platform was selected for dropping cargo and landing aircraft. "Heine" was informed about this by Berlin.
On the night of September 15-16, the Germans threw out three radio operators at the indicated coordinates. They were met and taken to Scherhorn. They reported that Scherhorn's part was reported to Hitler and Goering, who told him to convey that everything possible would be done to save her. A doctor and an officer from the air unit will be sent to the unit, who must select a site for landing aircraft. Two German radio operators were recruited, and they joined the "game", confirming the existence of a part of Sherhorn.

The Germans continued to throw out supplies of food, equipment, and medicines. On December 21, they dropped two German radio operators and four Belarusians who graduated from the German intelligence school. German radio operators were also recruited and used in the "game". The German command suggested that Sherhorn divide his “unit” into groups so that they would independently go to the front line. It was "done". Now the German command had to patronize not one, but three "military units".
After the groups moved to the West, they received a significant amount of cargo from German aircraft. Food (chocolate, biscuits, glucose, which our army did not have on allowance at all) was laboratory tested, then it was given to dogs and only after that people used it. And the Germans were constantly informed that delays on the way were due to a lack of food and ammunition.

Sometimes it was reported about sabotage in the rear of the Red Army, which allegedly commit parts of Sherhorn.
From the end of October 1944, the German command began to demand more and more insistently from Scherhorn the preparation of conditions for landing aircraft. Based on the fact that this could lead to failure, the NKGB of the USSR took all measures to delay the operational game, and then, under the pretext of pursuing "parts" of Sherhorn by the Red Army, tell the Germans about the impossibility of accepting aircraft.

The troops of the Red Army were rapidly advancing to the West, and the "part" of Scherhorn could not "catch up" with them - the fighting was already on the territory of Germany. On May 1, 1945, the Germans informed Sherhorn that Hitler had died, and on May 5, the Germans transmitted the last telegram on all radio stations participating in the game with the enemy in the Berezino case: “The superiority of the enemy forces defeated Germany. Ready-to-ship supplies by the air fleet cannot be delivered. It is with a heavy heart that we have to stop helping you. Due to the current situation, we can also no longer maintain radio contact with you. Whatever the future brings us, our thoughts will always be with you, who in such a difficult moment have to be disappointed in their hopes.

It was the end of the game. The Soviet brilliantly outplayed the intelligence of Nazi Germany.
Game results? A certificate from the archive of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation dated March 8, 1947 on this undercover case gives an idea about them.

“The Berezino intelligence file was opened in September 1944 for the purpose of radio game with German intelligence agencies and the German army high command about the presence of allegedly large formations of Nazi troops in the Berezino region of the Byelorussian SSR.
In order to maintain the morale and fighting spirit of its soldiers and officers in the Soviet rear, the German high command systematically transferred its agents and various cargoes to the indicated area from aircraft.

So, according to archival data, from September 1944 to May 1945, the Germans flew 39 sorties to the Soviet rear and dropped 22 German intelligence officers who were arrested by the Fourth Directorate of the NKGB of the USSR, 13 radio stations, 255 cargo places with weapons, ammunition, uniforms , medicines, food and 1,777,000 rubles of Soviet money.

In the 1960s, the CIA spent $20 million on a cat equipped with special espionage equipment. With its help, the Americans hoped to eavesdrop on the conversations of employees of the USSR embassy. But before they had time to send the cat to the first task, she was hit by a passing taxi. The animal not only survived, but also lived a "long and happy life," as one of the CIA officers later said. The project itself was declared a failure a few years later.

Chevalier d "Eon was a French spy, diplomat, one of the best swordsmen, a soldier and ... a court lady. Moreover, the fact that he is a man, it turned out only after his death, the site claims. In fact, judging by historical sources, including his own notes d 'Eon, he spent the first half of his life (49 years) as a man, and the second (another 33 years) as a woman. However, in the "male" period d "Eon, it was in a female guise that he arrived on a secret spy mission to the court of the Russian Empress Elizabeth.

In 2009, it suddenly became known that the American writer Ernest Hemingway was a failed KGB spy named Argo. He was recruited in 1941 but never provided any useful information. The world learned about this fact from the life of the Nobel laureate from the book Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America. In addition to two Americans, Alexander Vasiliev, an ex-KGB officer, is listed among the co-authors. It is on his extracts from the archives of the department in Lubyanka that these data are based.

Soviet intelligence scientist Georges Koval, who worked in the United States during the Manhattan Project years (1940s), stole almost all American nuclear secrets, single-handedly supplied the USSR with key technologies, and was revealed as a spy only in 2002. He died in Moscow in 2006 at the age of 92.

Soviet intelligence officer Gevork Vartanyan was only 19 years old when his group carried out an operation to thwart the assassination of Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt. Hitler's agents planned to assassinate the leaders of the three powers during the 1943 Tehran Conference.

One of the chiefs of British intelligence, Kim Philby, was actually a Soviet spy. This was discovered in 1963, when he was smuggled to Moscow. Prior to that, for 20 years he had successfully transferred important documents to the USSR. Once, in 1952, Philby fell under suspicion and was interrogated by British counterintelligence, but there was not enough evidence, and he was released. And after 4 years they were again accepted into the secret service.
It was with Philby that one of the main characters in John Le Carré's remarkable novel "The Spy Get Out" was written, based on which the film of the same name was shot.